Tag Archives: CCNE1

Human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (HGE) is an emerging tick-borne zoonosis caused by a strain of called the HGE agent, an obligatory intracellular bacterium. mRNA and protein produced from the gene were detected in the HGE agent cultivated in HL-60 cells at 37C, but their expression levels decreased in the organisms cultivated at 24C, suggesting that temperature is one of the factors that influence the expression of members of the multigene family. Several additional transcripts that were not detected in the mammals at 159752-10-0 manufacture the acute stage of contamination were detected in ticks. Phylogenetic analysis of the 20 different transcripts revealed that the major transcripts found in mammals and ticks were unique, suggesting a difference in surface properties between populations of the HGE agent in different host environments. The present study provides new information for understanding the role of the multigene family in transmission of the HGE agent between mammals and ticks. Human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (HGE) is a recently discovered tick-borne zoonosis (6). More than several hundred HGE patients have been confirmed in the United States, and the disease is usually increasingly recognized in several other countries as well as in the United States. HGE is an acute, often severe febrile illness that requires hospitalization and can be fatal. The etiologic agent (HGE agent) is a gram-negative, obligatory intracellular bacterium that primarily infects neutrophils. The agent is a strain of that has been previously known as a ruminant or horse pathogen (2, 6). The HGE agent is usually transmitted by species ticks, and a white-footed mouse (and to clinical signs compatible with human patients, respectively. 159752-10-0 manufacture Coinfections of HGE patients with the Lyme disease spirochete or were reported, because the tick is usually a common vector and is a common reservoir for these pathogens (12, 14, 16). The HGE agent is usually cycled in nature in mammalian reservoirs through obligatory blood feeding of tick vectors, because transovarial transmission appears to be inefficient (8, 30). During horizontal transmission of other tick-borne bacterial pathogens, changes in the protein composition around the bacterial surface play a role in adaptation of the organisms to CCNE1 different hosts (24, 27). Around the HGE agent, 44- to 49-kDa outer membrane proteins (P44s) are major antigens recognized by patients’ sera (1, 9, 32, 33, 34). These proteins are encoded by a polymorphic multigene family consisting of more than 18 paralogous genes, which are interspersed in the genome of the HGE agent (15, 34). These paralogs can be characterized by a central hypervariable region flanked by 5 and 3 conserved regions. Five paralogs are predominantly expressed by the HGE agent when it is cultivated in the HL-60 cell collection at 37C (34). However, which paralogs are expressed in mammalian hosts and ticks are unfamiliar. Passive immunization with monoclonal antibodies specific to P44 paralogous proteins of the HGE agent induces partial protection against the challenge with the HGE agent in mice, suggesting P44 paralogs as potential vaccinogens (10). Moreover, a role of P44 paralogs in HGE pathogenesis was implied by the results of our recent evidence that a recombinant P44 (rP44) protein, as well as the whole organisms, had the ability to induce production of proinflammatory cytokines by human peripheral blood leukocytes (PBLs) (11). Consequently, in order to understand the role of P44 paralogs during tick transmission and the function of P44 antigens and to explore an 159752-10-0 manufacture effective vaccine candidate, it is essential to characterize paralogs expressed in mammals and ticks. The present study is the first demonstration of successful experimental transmission of the HGE agent from a mouse to a horse via blood feeding of ticks. The results may be of benefit in designing a P44-based vaccine in the future. MATERIALS AND METHODS Bacteria and culture. The HGE agent (HZ strain [22]) was cultured in HL-60 cells (human promyelocytic leukemia cell collection) at 37C as previously explained (22). The purification process of ehrlichial organisms from your infected cells using Sephacryl S-1000 chromatography was explained elsewhere (23). The host cell-free organisms released by sonication of infected cells were inoculated to uninfected HL-60 cells at a 1/2 ratio (infected/uninfected cells), and the cells were cultivated at 37 or 24C for about 5 days to reach 70% infectivity and utilized for transcriptional analysis. For protein analysis, organisms were purified from these cultures. Contamination of mice, ticks, and horses. Twelve 3-week-old DBA/2 male mice (Harlan Sprague-Dawley, Indianapolis, Ind.) were inoculated intraperitoneally (i.p.) with 106 HL-60 cells infected with the HGE agent (70% of cells infected). On day 4 postinoculation, the blood specimens were collected from two mice for preparation of leukocytes. Twenty to thirty uninfected, laboratory-reared nymphs (total, 200 to 300 nymphs) were placed on each of 10 leftover mice with a paintbrush. Each mouse was restrained in a wire cage for 24 h to protect the ticks from host grooming. Engorged nymphs were collected after detachment.